Calendar

Opinion: (Henning Meyer, a Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and managing editor of Social Europe Journal): “As 2011 draws to a close, it is fair to say that this year has been one of the most disastrous for the European Union in its history. The eurozone crisis has spread from the periphery to the core and all political and financial rescue packages were too little, too late.”

My Comment: Apparently, a European sense of superiority and stubbornness do not allow the EU to come to unity in a short and easy way, but only through the path of suffering.

“The inability to move beyond the perceived short-term ‘national interest,’ at the expense of what is better in the mid to long term, has been a key reason for the EU’s powerlessness to respond adequately to the challenges it faces. We are moving towards political deadlock in a severe and worsening crisis and the forecast for next year doesn’t look good either.

“Last week Christine Lagarde of the IMF issued a warning not just against the looming downturn but against 1930s-style policy responses of protectionism and isolation in the name of the ‘national interest’ (here it is again). …Protectionist policy measures will trigger defensive responses, which will worsen the aggregate situation further so a depression becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The world has been in this situation before – and it did not end well.”

My Comment: Specifically in the name of national interest, it is necessary to establish a close relationship and comprehensive program for merging the EU into one whole!

“If we continue on current trends, I predict more than one riot for 2012. One of this year’s novelties, stemming from junctures such as the Arab spring, the ascendancy of the Occupy movement, and the massive protests against economic policies in Spain and Greece, was the rise of new social movements and the widespread use of communication technologies to co-ordinate civil unrest. Once the genie is out of the bottle it is almost impossible to put it back in. So unless the protest causes are addressed effectively, which seems unlikely, civil unrest is set to continue and grow next year.

“But unless EU leaders completely change course and overcome political and legal obstacles to install the European Central Bank as a lender of last resort, draw up plans for a real fiscal union, introduce eurobonds, devise a strategy for new growth, pursue necessary structural reforms in surplus as well as deficit countries, and finally reform the financial sector, there is little hope the current malaise can be overcome.”

My Comment: If the ECB knew what it needs to do!..

“And a mixture of disappointment and outright anger could also tempt other countries to reassess their membership, sending the EU into a process of disintegration, which would spell further economic and political disaster. It is not too late to change course, but the window of opportunity is closing very fast. If we continue down the current path, the Unwort des Jahres 2012 will not be ‘national interest’ but rather ‘return of nationalism.’ We are on a slippery slope and EU leaders would do well to fathom the long-term consequences of their actions.”

My Comment: The fact is that only the understanding of the plan of our evolution and following it will allow us to take correct steps; otherwise, the corrective forces of nature will cause an even greater crisis to show us the correct path, but this is the path of suffering.[65223]